Process for coloring toy balloons



y 9, 1929. J. c. GIBSON 1-.720594 PROCESS FOR COLORING TOY BALLOONS Filed March 5, 1928 Patented July 9, 1929c UNITED STATES 1,720,594 PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN C. GIBSON, 0F WILLARD, OHIO, ASSIGNOR- TO THE PIONEER RUBBER COMPANY, OF WILLARD, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

PROCESS FOR COLORING" TOY BALLOONS.

Application filed March 8,

My invention has for its object to provide a process of decoratively coloring rubber toy balloons or rubber bladders, whereby exceedingly attractive toy balloons or rubber bladders may be fantastically decoratedin a plurality of variegated colors and shades thereof and over variform areas at a very low cost.

As is well known in connection with toy balloons, their salability is dependent quite entirely upon their attractive appearance and, moreover, the margin of protit in such articles is exceedingly small so that any process pertaining to the manufacture of such balloons, to be usable in the manufacture of the balloons, must necessarily be exceedingly small and at a very low cost. By my invention I have provided a process whereby balloon coloring materials may be utilized for producing variform contours and in the various shades of the colors.

To indicate in a general way the product of the process, I have illustrated in the ac companying drawings a toy balloon that has been treated in accordance with the process.

Fig. 1 illustrates a toy balloon after it has been colored by the process involving my invention. Fig. 2 indicates the coloring produced when the balloon, illustrated in Fig. l, is distended. Fig. 3 illustrates a. bundle of one or more .loons preparatory to their introduction into the balloon coloring material.

in carrying out my process, the balloons are colored over irregular areas and with variable intensity of colors by bundling one or more, as from one to six, balloons in a bundle by tying or binding them together, without care as to their relative location or wrinkling or folding of arts and dippingthem into balloon coloring materials contained in warm water and temperature from 125 to 180 degrees Fahrenheit. 'lhey are allowed to stand a short time, such as from one to five minutes, in balloon coloring material that 3e sired intensity. The small to six balloons are then introduced ing liquid or solution. Water, erate temperature, may be the bundles, the bundlesbeiug stirred when in the rinsing liquid or solution to remove the surplus balloon coloringmaterial that does not adhere to or penetrate the surface of the or rinsing 1928. Serial No. 258,867.

and the balloons permitted to dry. The balloons may then be packed for shipment.

Inasmuch as separated "balloons cannot be made so that the parts of the balloons thus bundled will be located in exactly the same relation to each other, the process cannot possibly produce any two balloons exactly alike in coloring, which is an additional advantage for it givesa variety which increases the attractiveness Where a plurality of the balloons are displayed for purposes of sale.

Also, if it is desired to produce a plurality of colors, and their shades, on the surfaces of the balloon, the balloons may be dipped in the first color as described above and then rinsed and, after thoroughly rinsing, the bundles may be introduced into a second balloon coloring material and subsequently rinsed. This may be repeated as many times as desired to produce various intensities of the colors and produce the varieties and combinations of colors that arise from mixing of colors, such as greens produced by yellows and blues and purples produced by reds and blues. Also, an exceedingly attractive line is produced by rebundling the balloons in small bundles of 1 to 6 balloons in each bundle after they have been colored by one color, as described above, and then insert them in a second color which will produce other variform patterns having variegated color andshades.

Preferably, the balloons are formed to have a basic color, the coloring being contained in the composition of the balloon it-- self which color is, preferably, contrastive to the colors that are added, in the manner described above. Thus, the balloons may be colored in light basic color, that is, light col-' cred rubber may be used in the formation of the balloon. The greater the contrastive character of the rubber the more effective will be the colors added herein.

Thus, as shown in Fig. l, which is drawn from a balloon colored by my process, the directly exposed portions 1 of the balloon 2 is colored to the maximum intensity produced by the coloring material into which it inserted, depending on the time in which the balloon is allowed to remain within the coloring material. The shaded portions 3 are produced by the various degrees of penetration of the coloring material withaEiSS rubber. The bundles are then disassembled in the folds and the wrinkles that are produced in the irregular bundling of the balloons, which also defines the areas 1 where the color reaches its maximum intensity. There is also frequently produced, by my process, a uniformity of outline as is illustrated in the centralFigure 4, and the contour of the lighter shaded portions 3 and 5 which produce an attractive characteristic in the coloring of the balloons. When the balloons are distended, as shown in Fig. 2, the colorings become lighter but the balloons maintain their strikingly characteristic and attractive appearances. The parts, such as the part 4', become enlarged and distorted which aids the salability of the balloons. v

The balloons may be bundled as may be desired. They may be bundled singly and the parts may be secured in their irregular arrangement in any manner, such as by an elastic band or by a clothes pin, or by tying a bundle of balloons into a knot. A plurality of balloons 7 are shown in Fig. 3 as being secured by elastic bands 8 which may be located at the top and bottom. The assembled balloons may be folded and secured in bundle form by a single band, also by tying two or more together, by clamping with clothes pin and sprin s, by pulling them part way through a was 181 or ring, by placing layers under or between wire screen, corrugated surfaces or pipes, binding with rubber bands or by tying with a cord, and

any mechanical means that holds the balloons singly or a number in such a manner that the color cannot come in contact with the surface at certain points, produces the desired result.

I claim:

1. The process of coloring rubber bladders or toy balloons, which consists in bundling the balloons in irregular form, in a plurality of bundles, each bundle having but a few balloons, and introducing the bundles into a rubber coloring material and withdrawing the bundles from the rubber coloring material and introducin them into a rinsing liquid and separating t e balloons in each bundle from each other and drying the balloons.

2. The process of coloring rubber bladders or toy balloons which consists in bundling in irregular form the" balloons in lots of one to six in each bundle and introducing the bundles .into a rubber coloring material and withdrawing the bundles from the rubber coloring material and introducing them into a rinsing liquid, and again rebundling them and again introducing the bundles into a coloring material having a coloring different from thatof the first named coloring material, and again rinsing the bundles in a neutral liquid and separating the balloons of each bundle and drying the balloons.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name tothis specification.

JOHN C. GIBSON. 

